Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Trading Down 4.4% – Should You Sell?

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) was down 4.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $339.22 and last traded at $324.22. 38,415 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 302,071 shares. The stock had previously closed at $339.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Benchmark boosted their price target on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $436.33.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 4.3%

The stock has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $361.68 and its 200 day moving average is $307.88.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. The company had revenue of $9.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.64 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $10.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.29%.

Lithia Motors declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In other news, Director Stacy Congdon sold 75 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.73, for a total value of $27,804.75. Following the sale, the director owned 2,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,679. This trade represents a 3.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAD. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the 2nd quarter worth about $241,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 10.9% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,811,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $770,000. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $211,000.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

Lithia Motors, operating under the Lithia & Driveway name, is an automotive retail company that sells new and used vehicles through a network of dealerships and digital channels. Its retail operations represent numerous automobile manufacturers and provide customers with vehicle purchasing, financing, leasing and protection products.

The company also operates parts and service departments that provide maintenance, repairs, collision work and replacement parts. Through its Driveway platform, Lithia offers online vehicle shopping, financing, trade-ins and delivery services, extending its automotive retail model beyond traditional dealership locations.

Founded in 1946 in Ashland, Oregon, Lithia Motors has expanded through acquisitions and dealership development.